 Good morning from Mather Campground, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. | Typist: Bethany The Cascadian Nomads love pet friendly Grand Canyon National Park. We love Mather Campground. We love the Greenway Trail. We love the Rim Trail. We love all the people we met who said what lucky dogs Wilhelm, Brychwyn, Huxley are and what a fortunate parrot Leo is to get to visit such a special place. And. of course, we love the canyon. The views. The smells. The sounds. The Cascadian Nomads truly had a perfect Grand Canyon National Park visit. We hiked almost the entire Greenway and Rim Trails. It was windy, overcast and cool. My only complaint is that the Greenway Trail is poorly labeled; my map was well used but not always helpful. Lucky for us, there were kind people everywhere and we never felt lost. Most of the people we met were thrilled to meet the dogs and Leo along the leashed (restrained) pet friendly trails. A lot of them wanted to take pictures of our traveling pets. But humans weren't the only ones excited to see our group. The famous Grand Canyon mules were happy to meet us too.. |
Hello Grand Canyon mules!
The only time we felt a bit awkward during our hike was when we came across elk on the Rim Trail and on the deserted Greenway Trail very near our campground. The first elk had a large crowd gathered around so I rushed the dogs and Leo through the masses and past the elk. the second elk was way more surprised about us than we were about it. I am not sure if Leo saw the elk but after their initial surprise, the dogs were quiet and respectful of the majestic national park resident.
The pet friendly Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Trail.
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I think Leo's reaction to the Grand Canyon was my favorite. He seemed in awe. Sadly, the high winds meant he had to remain in the safety of his Popemobile during our hikes. As expected , the dogs loved gazing out into the canyon and sniffing each and every wind gust. There were times that I stopped for a picture and got the feeling the pets wanted to linger and savor the moment even longer than I did.
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| It was almost as hard to leave Grand Canyon National Park as it had been to leave Moab. As we drove off of the Grand Canyon rim and down towards Phoenix's valley of the sun, I began to wonder if we should have stayed in the National Park. The outdoor temperature reading on the van climbed to 100 degrees as we drove into the lower elevation city. I don't remember the last time I was in heat like that and I know that none of the pets had ever been in such extreme sun. I did a lot of research on how to keep them safe from dehydration and heat stroke so I tried to relax and enjoy the scenery of this drive through diverse National Forests and into the blooming saguaro filled desert. It was late afternoon when we pulled into Lost Dutchman State Park at the foot of the Superstition Mountains and had cooled to below 90 degrees. We took a slow, quiet stroll through one of the parks fantastic leashed dog friendly trails, bird watching and looking out for snakes, scorpions and spiders (also something I researched a lot before visiting this area.) |  Day 5 drive from Grand Canyon National Park to Phoenix, Arizona. |
This day was truly grand, from canyon to cactus, Arizona has been a wonderful place for the Cascadian Nomads to visit so far. As I marvel at the diversity of this road trip, I can't help but wonder what Wilhelm, Brychwyn, Huxley and Leo think. Do they also think it is fascinating that in just a few hours we went from being surrounded by a high elevation pine forest to hiking in the shadows of massive cacti? It is pondering questions like this, while watching the pets explore strange wonderlands, that make every second of effort to travel with my pets absolutely worth it.
Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona. (Lost Dutchman State Park.)
Please forgive any & all rough spots in this post as it has been done on mobile from the road! We will be reading and enjoying your comments but, due to being on the road, it will be difficult for us to respond right away. Thanks for understanding and for coming along on our adventure.
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